


The Voice

by carma19



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Reality TV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-15
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2020-09-01 17:33:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20261875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carma19/pseuds/carma19
Summary: Based off a Tumblr prompt: "Beca is a judge on a music competition show and Chloe is a contestant...  sparks fly...  duets ensue....."Post-pp3. Beca Mitchell, international chart-topper and Grammy winner, is the newest judge & coach on NBC’s The Voice. She’s found more success than she ever thought possible, but an unexpected contestant makes Beca realize what’s been missing.





	The Voice

On the fourth episode of the season, the first singer’s voice was a baritone-tenor. They crooned their way through _All My Life_ by K-Ci & JoJo.

That’s all Beca knew from the first few notes hitting her ears as her black-painted fingernails drummed along with the rhythm, tapping against the cushiony arm of that trademark red spinny chair. During the Blind Audition round, while the contestant started singing their ass off on stage, her back faced the audience instead of the performer. Without knowing what the singer looked like, she focused on forming her first impression based on the important aspects of performance--pitch, tone, range, vocal style. 

“Wow, K-Ci and JoJo?” Adam Levine mused in the red chair beside Beca’s. 

“We love a 90s throwback,” Beca commented with a smirk playing on her lips. She tipped her head back and refocused on the singing voice, wondering if they’d be a good candidate for “Team Beca”. As a coach and judge, she had to be able to help her team members through several rounds of the competition, and she only hit her button to toss her hat into the ring to win a contestant when she thought she had something to offer them as an artist. 

(Meanwhile, Beca never forgot the cameras zoomed in on her face, watching the judges’ reactions to each note and riff, each slide and belt. She still hated cameras on principle, but she’d long since grown used to that part of her job--it was especially worth putting up with on a show like this, where she could use her production skills to help an up and coming singer.) 

Beca cast an on-brand salute to John Legend in the chair next to her, knowing by this singer’s style that John was seconds away from--

Yep. John slammed his red button, triggering his chair to spin around so he could see the contestant and watch the rest of the performance. 

Adam narrowed his eyes at both Beca and Blake Shelton, hovering his hand over his buzzer in a teasing flourish. 

Blake pressed his red button next, his chair spinning around; the country star’s face lit up as he settled back to listen to the rest of the song. 

Adam smirked at Beca. “The rookie’s hard to impress, huh?”

Beca shrugged, playing it cool… before launching forward and slamming her buzzer half a second before Adam, who laughed. 

The singer riffed his last few notes and the audience--including the singer’s family backstage--burst out with raucous applause, as a four-judge chair turn wasn’t an easy feat. 

“What’s your name, man?” Blake asked. 

The singer--a guy who, to Beca, kinda looked like a young Usher--adjusted his bowler cap and smiled. “Gerard Jones,” he said.

“Well, Gerard Jones,” Blake started. “You should pick me as your coach, ‘cause you’ve got a country music soul in you, and we all know this ain’t my first rodeo…”

“Or,” John Legend cut in. “You can choose me to be your coach, because your voice is so soulful, and it’d be an honor to work with you.”

Adam kicked his feet up on his buzzer panel, stretching his arms behind his head. “Gerard. You’re awesome, man. Team Adam needs you. I’m the winningest coach here.” 

“That’s a boldfaced lie!” Blake called back, the playful banter earning a laugh from the crowd. 

“I don’t think you should listen to any of these old dudes,” Beca cut in, kicking her ankle up onto her opposite knee and leaning against one side of her chair. “I get that I’m the newbie this season, but there’s a reason I’m the youngest judge to ever sit in one of these chairs. I’ve got more production skills than all of these clowns--” She hitched her thumbs to both sides of her.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” John Legend cut in. “I’ve been producing tracks since you were in diapers, Beca Mitchell.”

Beca wrinkled her nose. “Mad respect, John. But I said skills, not years…”

“Oh snap!” Adam cried, chuckling. 

Carson Daly, show host since The Voice’s inception, stepped up to Gerard. “Okay, Gerard. It’s time for you to pick your coach. Your coach will mentor you through the rest of the competition. So who’ll it be? John, Blake, Adam, or Beca?”

Gerard chuckled into his mic. “It’d be an honor to work with all of y’all, but I gotta go with…” He took his dramatic pause. “Team Adam.”

Adam jumped up from his chair. “Hell yeah! You won’t regret it, man.”

“No! Boooo!” Blake cried. 

John shook his head in disappointment.

“Psh, whatever…” Beca grumbled, waving her hand dismissively. 

All four of their chairs turned back around, away from the stage as the lights dimmed once more in the studio. 

Beca took a sip of water as she readied herself to judge the next contestant’s vocal chops. 

A _very_ recognizable piano chord progression carried through the studio.

Almost as recognizable as the voice singing those lyrics, so haunting familiar it shot goosebumps prickling up her forearms and down her spine, white-knuckled her death grip on her red chair, and transported her back fifteen years to an empty swimming pool and a group of misfit girls finding their sound for the first time. 

“_Her eyes, her eyes, make the stars look like they’re not shinin’_  
_Her hair, her hair, falls perfectly without her tryin’_  
_She’s so beautiful, and I tell her every day_”

It _couldn’t be her_, could it? After all these years, after vet school obligations and the charming army boy fucker and Beca’s demanding schedule wedged them apart… 

Beca’s brain looped in her original mash-up and she bit down hard on her bottom lip, resisting the urge to belt it aloud. 

(_I was thinkin’ bout her, thinkin’ bout me, thinkin’ bout us, and what we gon’ be, open my eyes… it was only just a dream..._)

“Sexy rasp in this gal’s voice,” Adam muttered to John before leaning forward and striking his buzzer. John followed and Blake joined a moment later, all three chairs spinning around. But Beca didn’t care about them anymore. She didn’t care about teams or buzzers or anything other than what she’d been truly missing for so damn long now her heart ached at the thought of her best friend who could’ve… should’ve been so much more. 

As the singer started in on the second verse, Beca’s hand reached out shakily, breath seizing in her lungs and she wondered briefly if the cameras could actually catch her skin paling even more in that moment. Her fingers twitched and her chest tightened, bracing herself for a world of pain and disappointment if it _wasn’t_ her, but she summoned her courage and pressed the red button anyway. She was sure her heart stopped and time slowed to a near-stop as her chair spun around, but finally… there she was.

Chloe Beale. 

While Adam, John, and Blake bopped their heads and tapped their feet along, Beca sat completely still. Motionless. Her jaw slightly agape. Maybe she was in shock, but she couldn’t find it in her to banter with the guys this round. Shining gray-blue eyes locked on Chloe, beautiful as ever in a navy blue beaded romper with wicker wedges, her yellow Bellas’ signature scarf tied around her wrist (For luck, Beca assumed. Or to pay homage to the girls, as Beca had done in as many ways as she could over the course of her career.).

Now, Chloe sang directly to her with tears glistening in her eyes. 

“_You know, you know, you know I’d never ask you to change_  
_If perfect’s what you’re searching for, then just stay the same_  
_So don’t even bother asking if you look okay, you know I’ll say_  
_Girl you’re amazing, just the way you are..._”

As with every contestant who earned a four-chair turn, the studio audience burst into applause. Host Carson Daly stepped up to her with a smile. “What’s your name?”

“Chloe Beale,” Chloe said, a beaming smile stuck on her face.

Beca knew that smile. Chloe’s post-performance happiness could’ve launched her into the stratosphere if gravity wasn’t a thing. 

“Chloe, wow…” John Legend leaned forward in his chair. “That special rasp in your voice kind of reminds me of Stevie Nicks. There’s power in the subtlety, honesty and rawness. I’d love to work with you.”

“Well that’s a damn shame, Legend,” Blake said. “Because I see a young female country star standing before me.” 

Adam snorted. “Not everyone’s made for country, Blake.” He cranked up his most charming smile. “You know you wanna be on Team Adam. I’ll take your voice to the next level. Pick me.” 

All eyes fell on Beca, who continued sitting in stunned silence. She didn’t play into any of the guys’ performative banter even still, unable to look away from Chloe. She knew the cameras locked on her at this point, as she was the only judge left who hadn’t made her case for Chloe to choose her as a coach.

Beca cleared her throat and shifted in her chair. But instead of stating her plea, she began singing it instead. 

“_You shout it out, but I can’t hear a word you say_  
_I’m talking loud, not saying much_”

Chloe’s hand flew to her mouth as a sobbing chuckle burst free, and Beca continued singing.

“_I’m criticized, but all your bullets ricochet_  
_You shoot me down, but I get up._” 

A smirk flashed on Beca’s lips, and when she led into the chorus, Chloe joined her. 

Just as she had all those years ago, in the relative privacy of that dormitory shower. 

“_I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose, fire away, fire away_  
_Ricochet, you take your aim, fire away, fire away_  
_Shoot me down, but I won’t fall, I am titanium_  
_I am titanium…_”

Their pitch perfect harmony echoed throughout the studio, stunning the crowd and the three other judges into silence. 

Carson broke the quiet, stepping up beside the contestant on stage once again. “It’s time to pick your coach, Chloe. So… who’ll it be? Adam, Blake, John, or Beca?” 

Chloe took a deep, steadying breath, exhaling in a decompressing chuckle. “Wow, I--first I need to say that this has been an unbelievable experience, and it would truly be a dream come true to work with any of you. Thank you _so_ much.” She paused, licking her lips as her expression schooled into one of more seriousness. “But Carson, I have a confession to make. I didn’t come here to choose a coach. I came here to choose a person. Someone I should’ve had the courage to choose many years ago.” Her eyes locked on Beca, shining now with unbridled hope.

_Holy shit._ Chloe _would_ do this on TV. Jesus. Beca’s heart burst in her chest and she released a disbelieving puff of laughter, paralyzed in her giant red spinny chair. The lower lip trapped between her teeth popped free as a smile stretched across her face. “So… does that mean you’re Team Beca?” 

Brightening even further, Chloe handed her mic to Carson Daly and ran toward her from the stage; Beca barely had time to uncross her legs as Chloe braced her hands on Beca’s shoulders, straddled Beca’s lap on her massive red judge’s chair, and captured her lips in a bruising kiss, pouring every ounce of love and longing into the liplock.

The crowd once again erupted, this time with gasps and cheers and wolf-whistles, and Beca suspiciously swore she heard a few distinct Bellas’ voices chorusing their congratulations from backstage. Not that she gave a single shit about any of that, not with Chloe finally kissing her the way she’d always dreamed she would. 

“Guess she chose her coach,” Blake drawled, an amused grin plastered on his face. 

“Looks like the three of us didn’t even stand a chance with this one,” Adam added with an affectionate smile.

“Not for a second,” John piped in, chuckling fondly. 

Without breaking their kiss, Beca reached around Chloe and tapped her red buzzer, spinning her chair back around to grant her and Chloe a modicum of privacy. 

Chloe had always been on Team Beca, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feedback is always appreciated. :)
> 
> Connect with me on Tumblr @ starlightscape :D


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